axle bracket help

[rickcdewitt]

any one have advise on welding a four link bracket back onto a jeep dana 30 axle?my brothers jeep had an incident involving a stumpi cut a good bracket off another axle and was wondering about preheating with a torch so the area around the weld doesn't get brittle.i'll be using a big wire feed welder.i'm not a bad welder but i've never welded on axle tubes before(not a good idea unless you can't avoid it).thanks for any advise.

 

[martin]

It's not a problem, just go ahead and weld it on. many guys on here have welded brackets onto axle tubes. I've always used a stick welder on axle tubes but a decent mig should yeild similar results, perhaps even better.

 

[rickcdewitt]

got the bracket welded on yesterday. cranked it up and laid down a good bead.we used a cherokee bracket so we had to cut the caster eccentrics off the old bracket and weld those on also.the only thing i'm wondering now is if i should straiten the axle tube as its bent so the knuckle is about 3/16" back on the passenger side.i had to use a strait edge to find it as i wanted to be sure it was alright.

 

[metalmacguyver]

should definately straighten the tube if possible. there is a thread in the ranger axles forum involving someone with a bent axle tube.

if the tube is bent, then the bearings are running out of alignment. this will only lead to worse problems further down the road.

 

[rickcdewitt]

i should have posted the last question in a jeep forum i suppose.its a long way from the diff to the pass. side knuckle and there must be a gearhead who knows how much out the axle can be before the spider gears are bound and side loaded.i have access to a frame machine that can pull it out but i'de rather leave it alone if i can.